‘Paralyzed bride’ from NC expecting first child through surrogate

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Rachelle Friedman

‘Paralyzed bride’ from NC expecting first child through surrogate

Rachelle Friedman

KNIGHTDALE, N.C. — A North Carolina woman who made global headlines after being paralyzed in a freak accident at her bachelorette party is going to be a mom.

Rachelle Friedman of Knightdale was pushed into a shallow pool at her bachelorette party just a month before her wedding in June 2010. She was paralyzed from the chest down.

Friedman finally had her wedding day with Chris Chapman in July 2011. The bridesmaid who pushed her into the pool was still her bridesmaid.

TODAY.com reported that Friedman Chapman, now 28, is expecting her first child through surrogate. She heard the heartbeat of her child for the first time on Thursday.

“That was so cool. It was so fast and so strong —I didn’t know it would be that intense,” Chapman told TODAY.com. “I was trying not to let myself get excited up until this point because I didn’t want to be let down if there wasn’t a heartbeat, but now that there is, I’m crazy excited. It’s so real now.”